James kennedy



(No Model.)

J. KENNEDY.

MACHINE FOR OBTAINING FIBER AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

Pate ated A N. PETERS. Plwln-Lilhogruphcr. Washinglon. 04 C.

NITED STATES ice PATENT JAMES KENNEDY, OF KINGSTON, JAMAICA.

MACHINE FOR OBTAINING FIBER AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 275,920, dated April 17, 1883.

Application filed November 29, 1882. (No modeh) I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, now residing at Kingston, in the British Colony of the Island of Jamaica, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Obtaining Fibers and for other Purposes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention more particularly relates to machines for treating the leaves, stalks, and other portions of fiber-bearing plants without chemical treatment; but it is also applicable to machines for macerating plants, fruits,vegeetables, and other substances and obtaining juices therefrom.

The invention consists in the combination, with an arc-shaped bed or concave, of a rotary drum or wheel having a circular series of bars which extend approximately parallel with its axis, and which are provided with teeth or projections inclined slightly relatively to the direction of rotation. These projections, as they strike the materials subjected to them, separate the fibers and move them slightly to one side, and bars in the series have their teeth or projections arranged alternately at reverse angles relatively to the direction of rotation, whereby the fibers or materials are moved alternately toward opposite sides. The bars before described may advantageously consist of screws on screw-threaded rollers, mounted at their ends in the rotary wheel, so that they may turn freely, and alternate screws or rollers may be of a pitch thereverse of that of the intermediate screws or rollers.

The invention also consists in the combination, with the bed or concave and the rotary drum or wheel provided with screws, rollers, or bars of the kind above described, of beaters,which may be hinged in place so that they will tend to swing outward under the influence of centrifugal force, and so strike the materials under treatment with a sharp blow, and preferably, also, scrapers which follow the hinged beaters and aid in removing pulp and extraneous matters from the materials.

The invention also consists in combinations of parts hereinafter particularly described and claimed.

resents a plan thereof. Fig. 3 represents a transverse vertical section thereof. Fig. 4 represents a face and endview of one of the hinged heaters, and Fig. 5 represents corresponding views of one of the fixed scrapers.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A designates a curved or arc-shaped sta- 6o tionary bed or concave,which may be made of or faced with any suitable material. Itis preferably supported upon blocks a, of india-rubher, or other springs, so that it will accommodate itself to the thickness of the material which are secured in place between a collar,

c, fixed on the said shaft, and a nut, c, secured upon the shaft, as best shown in Fig. 1.

D designates a number of screws or screwthreaded rollers, which are journaled in bearings d in the disks or flanges 0, so as to be capable of rotating freely. A number of these screws or rollers (here represented as six) are arranged in a circular series, as best shownin Fig. 3, and the alternate screws all have righthand threads, while the intermediate screws have left-hand threads. As these screws catch the leaves or plants fed over the bed A, their threads tend to separate the fibers and to move them sidewise, first in one and then in the other direction, in accordance with the pitch of the go screws. The pitch of the screws and the coarseness of the thread may be varied as is found to be desirable for operating on different materials. In lieu of the screws D, fixed bars having upon their faces teeth or projections in- 5 clined slightly relatively to the direction ofrotation of the wheel 0 may be used alternate bars having their teeth'or projectionsinclined in an opposite direction to the teeth or projections of intermediate bars. screw-threaded rollers are, however, preferable.

Behind each screw or rollerD is a heater, E, which has pivots d at its inner edge, whereby it is loosely pivoted or hinged in the flanges or The 70 The screws or "from the fibers.

disks 0, and as the shaft B is rotated rapidly these heaters by a centrifugal force are caused to tend toward positions radial to the shaft B.

Behind each hinged beater E is a scraper,

' F, which is provided at the ends with projections or studs 0, as best shown in Fig. 5,which are inserted in holes in the flanges O, and by which the said scrapers are securely fixed in place.

G designates a guard or cover, wliich incloses the wheel or rotary drum, and is provided at the front with an opening,f, through which materials may be fed to the bed. This guard or cover is hinged at the back edge at g, so that it maybe thrown back to expose the free to rotate by the contact of the screws D with it.

In the operation of my machine the leaves or other materials are introduced through the opening f in the guard or cover G, and are caught between the bed A and the screws D. The whole of the fibers are forced into the V- shaped spaces between the convolutions of the thread of the screws D, and the screws force the pulp from the fibers, and at the same time move them back and forth from one side to the other by reason of the reverse pitches of the screws. The hinged heaters E strike a blow upon the fibers, and are slightly deflected backward from their radial position relatheir constant outward tendency, due. to cen- ,7

trifugal force, causing them to press or bear forcibly on the fibers. These beaters aid in removing the pulp and extraneous matters The fixed scrapers F rub over the fibers and remove therefrom all the pulp and other extraneous matter. This op-. eration is continued until the leaf or plant is finished to within a few inches of the buttend, whenit is drawn back and turned end for end and again introduced into the machine. The roller H aids in delivering the fibers freely from the bed or concave when their treatment is completed. The fibers are then bound into bundles of about one pound each, and are placed in hot water, after which they are thoroughly dried, prcferably by the heat of the sun.

In obtaining the fibers from vegetable substances my machine macerates the pulp and extracts all thejuices, which may be collected in any suitable recept-able, if desired.-

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- 1. The combination, with an arc-shaped concave or bed, of a rotary drum or wheel having a circular series of bars which extend approximately parallel with'its axis, and which are provided with teeth or projections inclined slightly relatively to the direction of rotation, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The combination, with an arc-shaped concave or bed, of-a rotary drum or wheel having a circular series of bars which extend approximately parallel with its axis, and which are provided with teeth or projections inclined slightly relatively to the direction of rotation, alternate bars having their teeth or projections inclined reversely to those of the intermediate bars, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The combination, with a curved bed or concave, of a wheel or rotary drum and a cir cular series of screws or screw-threaded rollers extending from end to end of the wheel or drum, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

4. The combination, with a curved bed or concave, of a wheel or rotary drum and a circular series of screws or screw-threaded rollers, D, the alternate screws having right-hand threads and intermediate screws lefthand threads, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

5. The combination, with a curved bed or concave, of a wheel or rotary drum having a circular series of bars which extend approximately parallel with its axis, and which are provided with teeth or projections inclined slightly relatively to the direction of rotation, and heaters hinged in said wheel'or drum and following the said bars, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

6. The combination of the bed or concave A, the wheel or drum 0, the screws or screwthreaded rollers D, the hinged heaters E, and

the fixed scrapers F, substantially as herein described.

7. The combination of the bed or concave A, the wheel or drum 0, the screws or screwthreaded rollers D, the hinged heaters E, the fixed scrapers F, and the roller H, substantially as herein described.

JAMES KENNEDY.

Witnesses:

E. BOLIVAR WoLF. Solicitor of the Stqwemc Court of Judicature,

Jamaica.

J. F. MILHOLLAND, Clerk, Kingston, Jamaica.

ICO

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